Love how the trailer is two minutes long and gives no actual information about the game.

...wait, I don't love that.

That's japan for ya! They spend the first minute of a "teaser" touting the long legacy of the series, and the other minute showing off what can be described as "nothing important".

...I like the original Atelier formula and all, but anyone ever wish they'd try the more RPG-oriented route again like they did for Iris?? I mean that insofar of a more in-depth battle system and bigger emphasis on story/world than characters.

I would prefer they do it with the spinoff titles. That were all exclusive to the PS2 (with the occasional PSP port) with the exception of Ar Tonelico Qoga. I really want to see a new Mana Khemia or something.

...I like the original Atelier formula and all, but anyone ever wish they'd try the more RPG-oriented route again like they did for Iris?? I mean that insofar of a more in-depth battle system and bigger emphasis on story/world than characters.

After how dull I found Iris: no, not particularly. Maybe if they can improve on that while keeping a strong alchemy focus it'd be a different story.

I can't say I'm fond of pigtails or pink hair and, given all of the fanservice and the blatant hints about Ayesha in parallel to Marie, I was expecting someone more...Elie-like. My first impression is that I very much dislike the new design, but I also disliked Totori's design, and she ended up my favorite of the heroines, save for Rorona in 2.

To Dice:Ayesha is definitely more world focused than just about every traditional Atelier title to date. That's one of the main themes of the game: truth and understanding of the world around you. They've put a larger emphasis on lore and background. I like the change, and I think this game might be going in a direction you prefer. All I have to say is, as warned on the previous page, you really need to to Keith's set of events before beating the final boss.

To Dice:Ayesha is definitely more world focused than just about every traditional Atelier title to date. That's one of the main themes of the game: truth and understanding of the world around you. They've put a larger emphasis on lore and background. I like the change, and I think this game might be going in a direction you prefer. All I have to say is, as warned on the previous page, you really need to to Keith's set of events before beating the final boss.

Cyril: Events feel so totally random in this game, I have no idea if I'm on track for Keith or not.... I might do another playthrough with a guide (I'm just less than half way through in Year 2 and I don't have Juris yet... I heard the game can be beaten by Year 1 on a good playthrough).

I liked Totori's outfit enough, but I didn't get the semi-see-through plastic-looking dress thing going on. I adore her A2 outfit, the darker blue really suited.

Eusis: I thought Iris-1 was good enough. It certainly felt downhill after that. And yeah, I'm going on the basic idea that the developers get better at the thing they do. I'm saying a new Iris-like game that's hopefully a little less...odd in certain ways.

...I like the original Atelier formula and all, but anyone ever wish they'd try the more RPG-oriented route again like they did for Iris?? I mean that insofar of a more in-depth battle system and bigger emphasis on story/world than characters.

I frequently wish they would, but then again I absolutely love Gust's non-Atelier games and am only meh on the traditional Atelier games(although I am currently playing Totori and so far it seems at least slightly better than the others I have played).

After Rorona left a bad taste in my mouth I found it difficult to return to Arland. As such Totori and Meruru (while I understand to be much better) still sit unopened on my shelf.

However, I HATE when a series I appreciate or am interested in gets annual releases and I am left in the dust.. Unable to ride the wave of enthusiasm over siliconera posts and updates because I have fallen behind on the franchise. Thus I decided to, somewhat reluctantly, begin Ayesha this past weekend.

On to the purpose...

For anyone who may have (like myself) appreciated the art style and charm of the atelier series but was on the fence about returning to the franchise until the franchise returned to something a wee bit more "iris" in nature... for me personally... I am shocked at how impressed I am with this game so far.

Explaining what I've found and appreciated about the title would only echo the RPGfan review and well circulated info about the title. All I am truly posting to say is if you have been looking at the new Atelier titles' previews and going "gee, but I never even got to ayesha.... guess I'll pass.." it may be worth rethinking or taking another look.

If nothing else, given its length, it should fit in nicely now right before I become tales-obsessed in August! LoL

Logged

In this world is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcedental entity or law? is it like the hand of god hovering above? Perhaps Man has no control even over his own will…

After Rorona left a bad taste in my mouth I found it difficult to return to Arland. As such Totori and Meruru (while I understand to be much better) still sit unopened on my shelf.

However, I HATE when a series I appreciate or am interested in gets annual releases and I am left in the dust.. Unable to ride the wave of enthusiasm over siliconera posts and updates because I have fallen behind on the franchise. Thus I decided to, somewhat reluctantly, begin Ayesha this past weekend.

On to the purpose...

For anyone who may have (like myself) appreciated the art style and charm of the atelier series but was on the fence about returning to the franchise until the franchise returned to something a wee bit more "iris" in nature... for me personally... I am shocked at how impressed I am with this game so far.

Explaining what I've found and appreciated about the title would only echo the RPGfan review and well circulated info about the title. All I am truly posting to say is if you have been looking at the new Atelier titles' previews and going "gee, but I never even got to ayesha.... guess I'll pass.." it may be worth rethinking or taking another look.

If nothing else, given its length, it should fit in nicely now right before I become tales-obsessed in August! LoL

I've yet to pick up Ayesha, but I will eventually. The games do play really well on a hand-held format so maybe I will wait a bit longer and see if it eventually gets a port.

I was one of those crazy people who never really got bothered by the repetetive aspects of Atelier Rorona. The story was so cute and refreshingly free of melodrama and the crafting was like crack, so I got completely addicted to the game. I'm guessing most people got bothered by the friends requests and such? I don't think you actually need to do very many to beat the game, but I suppose it might get aggrevating for people with completionist tendencies.

I also didn't really enjoy what I played of the Iris games. Too be fair, I only played 3, which is considered the worst in the series, but I found it incredibly generic and dull. When the game crashed in the middle of a dungeon a long while after a save point, I could never make myself get back to it. Is it really worth tracking down the other games? Atelier Esca and Logy looks much closer to the Iris games, so I imagine you might enjoy that. They sure have a fast turn-around on these games.

I'm also of the people that liked Rorona. Maybe because it was my first Atelier game, and like you said unsmashable_pumpkin, the story and characters are so funny I just got into the mood, so even with tank controls, barebones graphics and time limits, I got to enjoy most of it.

Now when you play the other 2 Arland games it's pretty hard to go back to Rorona. Totori and Meruru are so much better it's hard to even compare them.

I'm playing Ayesha myself (a little break to play The Last of Us) but I'll get back to it. I'm liking it but so far I feel both Totori and Meruru are better so Klyde, I would try to get back at them when you think about giving them another shot.

Now, changing topics a little, since we're talking about Ayesha, am I the only one that got a little confused about the new syntheses system in Ayesha compared to the Arland games? Some things I have yet to grasp is how many of given item I'll have after synthesising. It appears you'll get say 5 and you end up with a bunch more. Also, another thing I'm having some trouble understanding is how to pass traits. I don't know if the ones you put first or last will be the ones that'll be removed when there are too much and how beneficial is hitting the colored bars when making new items.

In the end there's part of me happy that there's a somewhat new system but also a sad part because just as I was getting used to the system in Arland it changed.

Yeah, the new system threw me off at first. I'm not sure if I like some of the changes, we'll just have to see how they're expanded upon in Escha and Logy. I do definitely love the pouring to manipulate the strength and elements of items. That was a great addition.

That said, if you two enjoyed Rorona and don't speak Japanese to play the older titles, you really should look into Annie for DS, which was localized a few years back.